Pinky Promises Should be the Backbone of America
by Expression812
Summary: *FORMERLY UNTITLED* Mike has a death in the family that leaves him with a dependent on his hands, Harvey's there when the news is delievered and Mike, Harvey and Donna find themselves adopting and adapting to this new fixture in their lives. not slash
1. Chapter 1

Pinky Promises Should be the Backbone of America

Harvey walked out of the elevator with his head still buried in his BlackBerry, which in turn caused him to miss the fact that Mike was in his office, with a girl. Harvey opened his door while sticking his tongue out at Donna after he caught some off handed remark about how his ties seem to be losing weight, to see Mike standing next to his couch, his hands in his pockets and carefree smile that Harvey had never seen the likes of on his face. Perched on his couch was a young girl, 18 at the most, she was short and kind of pudgy. She had a round face and thick blonde hair that only reached her jaw line and was straightened to perfection. She had a dark blue cotton skirt on and a V-neck white tee with a black fleece jacket overtop and dark blue converses on her feet, decked out with what appeared to be glow in the dark pony beads. The most interesting thing about her was her eyes, the right was a deep, dark blue, and the left was a dark gray with blue streaks. She was smiling at Mike when he walked in and was now looking at Harvey calmly, as if waiting for him to catch up.

Harvey unfroze his body and continued to his desk where he put his keys and wallet in the top drawer of his desk and locked it, before shoving his phone in his pocket and came to stand in front of Mike and his guest, who had abandoned the couch and was now standing next to his associate, a hand on his arm, squeezing it nervously, her eyes wide and looking at her shoes.

"Harvey, this is Olivia."

Harvey nodded at Olivia's soft 'pleased to meet you, Mr. Spector.'

"I knew her older brother Nathan from high school."

Harvey saw Olivia swallow when he just nodded again, still looking at Mike silently and watched as she put her game face on out of the corner of his eye.

"Mr. Spector, I'm sorry to have interrupted your morning but I had to speak with Mike, I'll just be going then, I can call him later." Olivia bent to get her tote bag from where it was leaning against the couch, it had a logo from a military base in Mississippi on the front with lettering across the bottom that read, 'My brother is in the Army'. Harvey saw the hurt in her eyes as she looked longingly at Mike and he realized just how short she was when Mike wrapped her in a hug as she sniffed.

"Since you came all this way, you might as well talk to Mike here. I will not however, be kicked out from my own office."

Olivia looked up from where she had buried her face into Mike's chest and nodded solemnly. She pulled away from Mike but kept his hand in both of hers and swallowed. She looked at Harvey again, with this look that he couldn't place almost as if she was telling him to get out while he still could, but she looked away before he could really analyze it anymore. Olivia took one more deep breath.

"Nathan isn't coming home. He was caught in a road side bomb, his whole convoy;" she paused to blink and breathe, "they all died. His body is being shipped to Germany first and will be held up there for a couple weeks and then shipped to the base in Mississippi, then trucked to Arlington cemetery in Washington. In total, his unit commander said that it would be about a month before he reached Arlington and then another week before his funeral will be scheduled. They'll do the autopsy in Germany, but the promised me the full report."

Mike viably slumped at her first sentence, but nodded at the information Olivia was telling him. Harvey listened as she spoke in soothing tones about another human being's body being manhandled overseas and across the country, he watched her thumb stroke the top of Mike's hand as she spoke and noticed the tears leaking from her eyes taking her eyeliner with them. Olivia nodded at Mike and he nodded back. She took her hands from Mike's and hugged herself tightly while looking down and away.

"We knew this may happen, Liv." Mike soothed as he ran a hand through his hair. Harvey watched Olivia's face visibly crumple at the use of the nickname. "They warned us."

It seemed Olivia had reached her limit of strength as her knees shook dangerously and started to give but Harvey rushed forward to catch her, looping his arms under her arm pits. Mike's face was contorted in worry as he took one side of Olivia's sobbing form and helped Harvey sit her on the couch, she had a hand wrapped in each man's suit jacket and refused to let go as she perched on the very edge of the couch and cried unashamedly, never trying to cover her face. Olivia started to hyperventilate and Harvey and Mike pushed her back into the couch where she drew her knees to her chest and stared straight ahead, her fingers still gripping the fabric of both man' jacket so hard her knuckles were white. Mike slung his arm around her and rubbed her back.

"I, I…" She broke off in another sob, "I have no one left." Olivia hiccupped and closed her eyes, crying harder. Slowly she wore herself out, and her head began to tip backwards in sleep. Her grip slowly loosened and Mike pried himself out of her hand before removing the other from Harvey who sat there, feeling like he was intruding on something very personal. Mike silently offered Harvey a hand up, which he took, and looked into Mike's wounded, but dry eyes. As soon as Harvey was standing, Mike gently laid Olivia down on the couch and straightened her legs before taking his jacket off and throwing it over her bare legs and turned, surprised to find Harvey handing Mike his own jacket, which he draped over Olivia's torso. Mike looked back to Harvey seeing a hundred questions in his eyes and signaled with his thumb over his shoulder towards the door before exiting the office. Mike curled his finger at Donna, who had tears in her own eyes having heard everything, and continued away from Harvey's office. Harvey closed the glass door and waited for Donna who grabbed her box of tissues from her desk and they followed Mike to an empty conference room, both with a million questions floating around their heads but the first one that popped out of Donna's mouth as Harvey closed the door behind himself and Mike pulled the blinds was, "What just happened?"

**A/N; I know an evil place to stop, sorry. It's just to make sure you keep reading! Anyway, I have a brother that just shipped out to Afghanistan Friday, but I have no idea about the shipping process of the returning soldiers, so I'm sorry if I'm wrong. I'm not out to dreg up any bad memories for anyone, this is more of a therapy for me, my older brother by two years who I'm very close to just left and I won't get to see him for a very long time. I'm not dealing with it well, but I'm taking it day by day. Anyway, I really don't know if/when I'll update this; it depends on how many reviews I get. Thank you for reading and please remember to R&R. P.S. Ideas for a title? Please leave them in a review. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in- *tries to remember the last time she posted anything & can't*- a very long time! Life just kinda happened! I will try to be better about it in the future. Anyway, Enjoy and please remember to R&R.**

Mike sighed as he tried to think of where to begin in this long, long story.

"I've known Olivia for as long as I can remember. Her family lived next to my grandmother's house and her older brother by two years, Nathan, and Olivia used to be out in the yard all the time, playing. One day their mother came over to ask if I wanted to play with them, I didn't really want to but my grandma pushed me out the door. Long story short, we were really good friends, Nathan and I. We're the same age and went through high school protecting Olivia from the guys that wanted to date her, she hated that." Mike paused as he got lost in a memory. Coming back to Earth he continued. "After we graduated, Nathan and Olivia's mom died. Nathan got a job working at repair shops changing oil so he could afford to keep Olivia in school. Nathan wanted to be a history teacher, but didn't have to money for college. He heard from a National Guard recruiter that if they enlisted, they got money for college through the G.I. Bill. Nathan signed up then and there. He was in for a year before he got called to duty to go the Afghanistan. He was over there for a year and a half, was supposed to be shipped back home in a few months, actually." Mike paused again, looking from Harvey and Donna to the windows overlooking the city.

Donna sniffed. "I'm so sorry, Mike."

Mike swallowed and slightly shook his head; willing the grief he felt welling in him to quiet down, tell it that here was not the place, pleading with it that Olivia needed him now. In a retrospective moment, Mike realized that death, and in effect, grief, knew no mercy. Outwardly, the blonde shrugged, too busy trying to breathe past the lump in his throat, much less speak around it.

"Listen, Mike. If you need the day-" Mike cut Harvey off.

Mike swallowed the lump as best he could before answering. "I'm going to need to be with Olivia for a while-two days max." Mike turned, examining his boss' face for signs of anger.

"Mike, that is not nearly long enough. Take the week." Donna insisted.

Mike looked to Harvey, question in his eyes, Harvey nodded his approval and the young man sagged in relief.

"What is Olivia's family situation? Will she be staying with you?"

Mike shook his head and sank into a seat at the table, resting his head in his hands before looking back at Harvey and Donna.

"She's in college, freshman year for her Bachelor's in Nursing. She's currently attending a school in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but we made a plan should this happen."

Harvey's eyebrows rose as Donna's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"They have these-seminars, I guess, that the family of a deployed soldier can go to. One of the biggest things that they drill in your head is to make a plan. Make all the hard decisions now, when you aren't grieving. So; Olivia and I laid out a plan-made a contract and everything."

Harvey nodded, admiring both youth's smart thinking.

"So, what's the plan?" Donna questioned.

Mike took a breath. "Olivia would transfer to a college here-she said that she would feel safer closer to a family member or a person of equal or greater value. She doesn't want to live with me; believe me I tried to convince her that she needed someone, but ever since Nathan left-she's felt the weight of the whole world. Suddenly, there's her bills, food, books and classes with essays and that require time, plus she took on the responsibly of taking care of Nathan's apartment, paying his rent. She told me that learned how to be an adult the hard way and she wouldn't go back to depending on anyone ever again. Anyway, I managed to get her to agree to taking a semester off and living with me for that period of time."

"Will she hold true to that?" Harvey asked.

"She signed a contract and we pinky promised- she might need a little reminding, but I don't think she's ever broke a pinky promise."

Donna laughed shakily, wiping her eyes before rising. "Well, I'm going to go get this ball rolling then."

Harvey nodded briskly, "Call the college, let them know the bare minimum and get someone to get her stuff here, asap. Also, put her monthly bills on auto- pay out of the emergency fund for now." Harvey put up his hand in a 'stop' gesture to keep Mike from interrupting about the money. "Leave Nathan's apartment factored in with her bills-she doesn't need to think about that right now."

Donna nodded, for once not throwing out a sarcastic retort for being ordered around, and left the room.

Mike physically felt the pressure of Harvey's full attention when it landed on him.

"Mike-"

"Don't." Mike wiped his eye. "I can't right now. I have a girl in that room that just lost her whole world. I'll worry about me later."

Harvey nodded. "You can go do whatever you have to do-go shove your work off, anyone gives you lip, sick Donna on them."

That pulled a hallow burst of air from Mike that might have resembled a laugh, before Harvey walked from the conference room and back to his office. Mike followed him out the door, but turned towards his cubical.

Harvey quickly checked on Donna, who was on the phone as he passed, but he received a thumbs up for his trouble. Harvey silently entered his office, dimming the lights for the sleeping teen on his couch. He paused to study her face.

Though it was relaxed in sleep, Olivia's face somehow still looked haggard, resembling the stressors in her life he had just learned of. He watched as her brow scrunched in what must have been a response to something in her sleep.

Harvey kicked his shoes off and lightly padded to his desk where he slowly and as silently as he could proceeded to read through paper work, occasionally casting his eyes to his charge.


End file.
